Garnett turns back the clock; Verlander throws no-hitter

Kevin Garnett answered the call facing his first 0-2 playoff deficit as a member of the Boston Celtics. Garnett led all scorers with 28 points and 18 rebounds, his best playoff game since the 2008 championship season. Garnett also shut down fellow All-Star Chris Bosh holding him to 6 points. Paul Pierce also chipped in 27 points in the 97-81 victory. Shaquille O'Neal returned to action for the first time since early April and immediately threw in a reverse layup. The biggest lift came from point guard Rajon Rondo who went down with an ugly dislocated elbow, but came back in the game. The Celtics are now back in the series, but if they want to win, Garnett will have to continue to outplay Chris Bosh as he did tonight.

In the earlier game the Memphis Grizzlies came back from a late 4th quarter deficit to force overtime against Oklahoma City where they went on to win the game 101-93. Zach Randolph continues to impress becoming the first player in this year's playoffs to score 20 points and pull down 20 rebounds in a game. He and Marc Gasol are making my trumpeting of the importance of Kendrick Perkins look bad. I am happy for the city of Memphis being that they are bracing for a massive flood that has leveled parts of the Midwest in recent days. The Grizzlies are giving the fans somethign to cheer about.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander threw the second no-hitter of his career Saturday (May 7th) and second in three days this season. Verlander dominated the Toronto Bluejays carrying a perfect game into the 7th inning before walking his first batter. The ball 4 pitch hit 100 mph on the gun. Nasty.

In other baseball news Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier's hit streak was snapped at 30 games after he went 0-4 against the New York Mets on Saturday (May 7th). Ethier took some criticism for taking a game off during the streak earlier in the week. The all-time record is 56 consecutive games with a hit by Yankees immortal Joe Dimaggio. Dimaggio played in all 56 games he hit during the streak widely considered as a record that will never be broken.